Abstract 

This paper attempts to review empirical research on the specific difficulties of South Asian (henceforth referred to Asian in the text) girls in British secondary schools. These include tension and anxiety mainly caused by the differences in values and beliefs between home, psychosomatic illnesses, vocational aspirations, and scholastic attainment and progression to higher education. In the light of the review, some suggestions are offered which might alleviate these difficulties and thereby improve the equality of opportunity for Asian girls.

Again, many teachers appear to apply the norms of the indigenous, middle class society to the Muslim girls, whereby they feel that adolescent girls should have the autonomy to decide what to do with their life, how to shape their identities and how to realise their aspirations and if teenagers lack such autonomy, they must be miserable and need help.

(Basit, 1997, p.163)

Introduction

It has been widely reported in the literature (Basit, 1997; Drury, 1991; Wade and Souter, 1989; Ghuman, 1994, 1998) that South Asian adolescents girls tend to encounter many special difficulties at school mainly due to the differing values of home and school. These lie in four major domains. British society encourages individualism, a secular outlook and gender equality, whereas the Asians favour collectivism, religious commitment and gender role differentiation. In addition, Asian girls have to face and learn to cope with the racial prejudice of British society. However, it is well to state in the beginning that Asian girls are not a homogenous category and that there are religious, regional, and social/cast differences – religion affiliation being the most significant. Another important factor to bear in mind is that second- and third-generation girls face different kind of problems to the one’s faced by the first-generation (for detailed discussion see Ghuman, 1999). This paper reviews in some depth empirical researches carried out in Britain on a few areas of concern for Asian girls and makes suggestions to improve their education. Although the discussion is mainly based on the British literature, it is likely to be relevant to Asian and other ethnic minority girls (with traditional backgrounds) in North America, Australia and Western Europe.

Asian and British Values

Traditionally, gender roles (and even now) were clearly defined within Asian families. Girls from early childhood were brought up in such a way that they would grow up to be obedient daughters and would uphold the izzat (honour) of the family (see Dosanjh and Ghuman, 1998). Their schooling and education was planned in such a way that they would make faithful and conforming wives. As mothers, they were to be completely devoted to the care of children and of the extended family. There is more than a resonance of these values even in the second-generation Asian families in the UK (Shaw, 1990). Bhopal describes the predicament of first-generation Asian women:

‘Traditional’ women had an arranged marriage and were given a dowry, they performed the majority of domestic labour tasks and had little or no control over domestic finance. They had low levels of education (those who had ‘O’ levels or no qualifications), and were in low positions in the labour market 

(Bhopal, 1997, p. 148)

Bhopal (1997) summarises the findings of her ethnographic research with a bold, but in my view, a valid conclusion: ‘The dominant norms and values of south Asian culture disadvantage south Asian women (p.151).’ 

In the UK, however, there have been drastic changes in the gender role-taking since the mid-70s (Morgan, 1992). The British education system has responded positively to this change and has made strenuous efforts to provide equality of opportunity for girls in the choice of school subjects and career aspirations. It seems that the opportunities offered to girls are now almost on a par with those available to boys in schools. Women teachers are increasingly to be found in senior positions and are providing role models for girls, who are out-performing boys in scholastic attainment at most levels.

Thus, many Asian girls (depending on their religious and social class/caste background) are placed in a situation where they have to respond to the conflicting demands (may be termed as role conflict) of the home and school. Additionally, in common with their male peers they are likely to face racial prejudice and discrimination form the wider British society in all walks of life (Modood et. al., 1996).

Psychosomatic illness

There is some evidence in the literature – not conclusive by any means – to suggest that ‘chasm between home and school’ may cause serious psychological tension and excessive anxiety, which may in turn can lead to serious illnesses. A literature survey did reveal some studies (Ahmad et al., 1994; Lacy, 1991; Lacy and Dolan, 1988) which had investigated the eating disorders of Asian girls. According to Lacy and Dolan (1988, p. 73), there had been no reported cases of bulimia or anorexia nervosa until those of their own study. They identified one girl of Pakistani origin, three of mixed racial background and one of Jamaican origin to be suffering from one or the other of the eating disorders. The authors claim that the actual referral of Asian girls to the clinic was ‘ten times less than their numbers in the catchment area population’. In her review of British-based studies, Dolan (1991) concludes: ‘In most of these case reports clinical features and demographic data show no major differences from those reported in the white eating-disordered population, but some differences must be noted’ (p. 74). The differences pertain to clinical matters and to black anorectics and are not relevant to our discussion in this paper. However, the author goes on to argue that many British studies have suggested ‘cultural identity confusion’ as a contributing etiological factor, but this cannot be disentangled from the wider encounter of two ‘cultures’: that of the patients, on the one hand, and that of the health professionals, on the other.

Bryant-Waugh and Lask (1991) report clinical case studies of four South Asian girls (mean age 12.6 years), who were diagnosed as suffering from anorexia nervosa. The authors claim that these are the first reported studied in Asian youngsters and, subsequently, they have dealt with another four cases. They argue that the ‘culture conflict’ between home and school values did play a part in two of the cases, and conclude:

The common tasks of adolescence, which include the formation of an integrated sense of self, the emergence of an independent self, and the acceptance of a sexual self, are undoubtedly problematic for many young people. It can be argued that issues of autonomy, control and sexuality may present particular difficulties for children and adolescents described in this paper.

(Bryant-Waugh and Lask, 1991, p. 232) 

 

A small-scale study (Kingsbury, 1994) of South Asian and white adolescents who took an overdose of self-harming drugs, throws some interesting insights into the predicaments of Asian girls. All young people (aged 12-18) who attended the West Middlesex University Hospital, England, in an overdosed condition from February 1987 to April 1988 (and who were available for interview), were included in the study. Included in the research are the semi-structured interviews conducted by child psychiatrists. The final sample on which the findings are based is not significantly different in age, sex ratio, ethnic distribution and suicide-intent rate from the subjects not included in the study. In the Asian sub-sample, the vast majority who took the overdose were girls, the ratio being: female, 12 to male, 1; as opposed to 3 to 1 for the whites. The researchers summarise: ‘Although Asians were not found in the high suicidal intent group, the rates of depressive disorder, hopelessness, long premeditation time (greater than 3 hours) were all higher in Asian adolescents...The social and parental relationships showed a picture of isolation in Asian adolescents’ (p. 133). Asian young people (mostly girls) were more likely to say ‘no’ to such questions as: ‘Do you meet with friends after school?’; ‘Do you visit other friends houses?’. They confided less in their parents and experienced more control by parents than did their white counterparts. Merril and Owens (1986) conducted a comparative study on self-poisoning by Asians and whites from a hospital in Birmingham, England. The authors summarise: ‘The relative excess of marital problems in Asian females, compared with white females, could be seen as being due to those patients who blamed their marital problems on unwanted arranged marriage...Overt racial prejudice, although rife in the community, was implicated in only three Asian self-poisonings; this may have been due to under-reporting to a white psychiatrist’ (p. 11-12). The researchers warn the reader about the validity of their findings as the information was given by the patients and was interpreted by the assessors who are white. However, these findings have been supported by Biswas (1990), who studied a sample of South Asian and white adolescents (aged 13-17) and found that the self-poisoning rate of Asian girls was higher than that of whites. Culture conflict is mentioned as a possible reason for self-poisoning by the South Asians, especially for girls. Glover et al. (1989) analysed the attendance records of patients (aged 10-24) with self-poisoning at a London hospital which serves an area with a large Bangladeshi population. They found no significant difference in the proportion of Asian females, compared with non-Asian, in the age groups of 10-14 and 20-25. However, Asian girls were significantly over-represented in the15-19 age group. The authors attribute this high proportion to the conflict of Asian versus Western lifestyles which is aggravated during adolescence, thus to some degree reinforcing the findings of the previous researches in the field. There are a couple of other small-scale researches (Handy et al., 1991; and Soni and Balrajan, 1992) which also confirm the findings of the studies noted earlier in the section. 

Although there have been no large-scale studies which demonstrate conclusively that Asian young girls are more prone to suffer from psychological ailments and psychiatric illness than either their white counterparts or Asian boys, the findings of the research extant lead us to infer that there is cause for concern. Asian girls need counselling and other forms of support to help them cope with their anxieties and personal worries.

Coping Mechanism

It can be safely inferred from the preceding discussion that many Asian girls have to learn to cope with a double disadvantage: one of parental restriction; and the other of racial prejudice and discrimination in the wider society. As discussed above such a situation can lead to deep anxiety and a loss of self-confidence, which may result in identity diffusion. There is evidence in the literature (Ghuman, 1999; Drury, 1990; Basit, 1997) which shows that girls employ a variety of psychological mechanisms to maintain the continuity, distinctiveness and self-esteem of their personal identities. Compartmentalisation is an example of such a mechanism. Breakwell (1986) describes its function: ‘The capacity for compartmentalism is quite startling in some cases, where completely mutually self-definitions are held simultaneously’ (p. 95). On the one hand, many Asian girls learn to think and behave as an obedient and respectful daughters wearing Shalwar Kameez and speaking in Punjabi/Hindi at home. On the other, they wear European style uniform and speak English at school and are engaging and assertive like their white peers. Some girls have been known to cope even with dating, which is an anathema to most South Asian parents (see Drury, 1991). An example of this coping strategy is to be found in Ghuman (1995), where an experienced Sikh teacher urged her Asian students to follow her example:

I say look I have grown up in this environment, I had to fight battles...Although I am very forthright, but I am very traditionalist at heart. I can fit into both cultures. In Indian society, I behave like an Indian, here in school I behave like an English. I am bicultural.

(Ghuman, 1995, p. 74).

Other researchers (Drury, 1991; Wilson, 1978) have reported cases of Asian girls using this strategy in order to avoid conflict with their parents as well as to cope with their own psychological tension. Another mechanism which may be used in a situation of conflict is that of ‘Compromise change’. This strategy has also been often used by Asian girls and examples are to be found in Wilson’s ethnographic research (1978). The following example is taken from Ghuman’s (1994) research, for which teenage girls were interviewed in Vancouver:

 

I try to go Church, I try to fit in. I do my best - I still believe in my religion (Hindu), but I can fit in both religion...(Pause) You have to; I do. I was raised here. My parents have tried to make me a Hindi(sic) - but I mix with East Indians and white people. Now my parents have excepted my biculturalism

(Ghuman, 1994, p. 135).

According to Breakwell (1986), a third psychological mechanism, namely, ‘Fundamental change’, may be used by individuals to re-appraise their identity structure when other measures fail to reduce anxiety and conflict. Some Asian girls in Britain, for instance, have to give up any hope of a career and are obliged to accept arranged marriages because of the parental pressure. They probably re-appraise their ‘identity’ and seek self-esteem and distinctiveness in being a good wife and a mother. In this situation, they usually sacrifice ‘continuity’ of their ego-identity as expressed in their autonomy and personal choices.

To explain the situation of people caught up in the tussle between two distinctive cultural systems, Stonequist’s (1937) theory of the ‘marginal man’ is of some interest. His notion of the ‘marginal man/woman’ suggests that threats to identity may lead to higher levels of deviance, excessive anxiety and psychiatric instability. The ‘marginal man’ is the person who straddles two cultures in society (e.g. Asian girl in the UK) or is being raised by two ‘distinct’ parental groups (e.g. children of ethnically mixed parentage). The marginal person may be rejected, and feel alienated, by one or both parents, by home or by school. According to Breakwell (1986), no conclusive empirical evidence has emerged to support this contention. However, the study of Tizard and Phoenix (1993) found some support for the ‘marginal’ predicament of ‘mixed-parentage’ (Afro-Caribbean and white) young people. A fifth of their sample showed some of the ‘marginal’ characteristics: ‘They wished that they were white, or that they were either black or white, rather than ‘mixed’...We characterised this 20 per cent of the sample as having a problematic, rather than a negative racial identity...’(p.161). However, the authors argue that because of the radical social changes in the British society (leading to more tolerance towards non-white Britons) the people of mixed black and white parentage suffer less rejection than in the past.

It is important to point out that there has been a sea-change in the attitudes and values of whites towards cultural diversity and ‘mixed- parentage’ children since the time when Stonequist argued his theoretical stance. Biculturalism and bilingualism are increasingly becoming the norm of US society (Phinney, 1995), and are also being recognised as part of British cultural diversity.

Some Asian communities perceive schools as posing a serious challenge, even a threat, to the future of their family and its traditions (Thomas and Ghuman, 1980; Anwar, 1985). Boys in such families often receive preferential treatment in the choice of clothes, friends, and freedom from doing household chores and generally enjoy more ‘independence’. Some orthodox parents still want their daughters to leave school after the compulsory schooling at the age of sixteen, although an increasing number of parents are allowing girls to pursue courses at local universities and colleges and in single-sex schools.

Thomas and Ghuman (1980) were told repeatedly by Bhatra Sikh fathers: ‘Our girls should be allowed to leave a year early, so that we can prepare them for marriage, e.g. train them in cooking, housekeeping, embroidery and sewing’ (p. 73). In face-to-face interviews, most of the fathers in the study pleaded with us to help them on this matter. Later on, we learnt from their girls’ teachers that they were often absent for several weeks at a time during the last year of their schooling. And when parents were questioned on the reasons for their absence, the typical reply, according to the teachers, was: ‘They have gone to see relatives in Manchester or gone to India to attend a wedding’. However, the reader is cautioned that the fieldwork for this research was carried out some 19 years ago with the first-generation and now we are concerned mostly with the second- and possibly third-generation. Nevertheless, there is still survival of the traditional attitudes in some religious groups. A Muslim girl tells her story:

First, when I started school - my secondary school that is - my dad, he was on to me, like, I couldn’t go to some kind of school and that, and he goes, ‘My daughter ‘s going to work hard and she is going to achieve everything there is and go on to further education...an in the third year, my dad suddenly goes , ‘Haven’t you done enough? Shouldn’t you leave school? Shouldn’t you pack up?

(Wade and Souter, 1992, p. 7).

Teachers can be caught in a dilemma: whether to reinforce traditional parental aims and expectations regarding girls’ education, or to teach them the Western values of individualism and personal choice (Ghuman, 199). It seems that compromise solutions are being worked out by schools where there are good home and school links and where the teachers have won the confidence of parents. A teacher explained:

Yes, girls have less freedom. The girls cope well in school and majority accept that home is different. I took 9a to see King Lear. This father won’t let his daughter go, but I persuaded him. We are finding the parents approach us about their anxieties. When we assure them they (girls) would be safe, then they are more willing. But not on residential weekends; very few would be willing. 

(Ghuman, 1995, p. 51)

However, some teachers have cynically exploited this situation. A black headmistress of a ‘majority’ Asian girls’ school commented:

When I took over the headship, I was appalled by the attitudes of senior white (mostly men) teachers. They had given up on Asian girls’ education - A typical comment was: ‘They are going to me married off as soon as they leave school, so what is the point of raising their expectations?’

Basit (1997) also notes that many white teachers are lead by the popular stereotypes of Muslim girls (e.g. low aspirations, about to be pushed into arranged marriage, oppressed by the family, see Gipps and Gillborn, 1998) and they tend to treat them as ‘problem’ students. In contrast, she found them to be hard working, obedient and well behaved and nurturing high vocational aspirations. Furthermore, they showed respect for their teachers.

Some South Asian parents, though willing for their daughters to continue with their higher education, still restrict their choice of subjects as well as their career aspirations. The favourite subjects tend to be sciences and maths, which are deemed useful for entry into the teaching and medical professions. However, increasingly, the third-generation girls are challenging their families. An Asian teacher illustrated:

Very definitely, I can give you a number of friends who were with me in the sixth form, who had better grades than me are now married with children. At the age of 18 their fathers said, ‘no’. Young girls are becoming strong now - they want to have a choice of career. They are saying: ‘Stop us if you dare, this is the last time you would speak to me.’ I am not saying they are happy, but 10 years ago no.

(Ghuman,1995, p. 51).

A study by Thornley and Siann(1991) reports no significant differences between the career aspirations of Asian and white girls (aged 14-15) in Glasgow. Nearly half of the Asian girls aspired to have a professional career in medicine, science, computing or journalism. The remainder wanted to settle for jobs more traditionally classified as woman’s work; such as teaching, nursing and secretarial. Asian girls were less inclined to aspire to a career at which their parents disapproved compared with their white peers; the latter often choosing a career in spite of parental disapproval. Researchers make some other interesting observations:

What makes it more difficult for the South Asian and black woman is her marginalisation in general. Discussion of sexism in employment are often limited to the wishes, needs and aspirations of white women... The separate and different needs of women from ethnic minority groups are not considered. Racism in employment is seen something which affects the careers of black men only.

To conclude, the researchers argue that the Asian family’s notion of izzat (honour), and the assumption that they intend to enter arranged marriage, place constraints on Asian women’s choice of career and of financial independence.

School Achievement and Higher Education

As far as the scholastic achievement of girls is concerned, in general they perform better than boys. The Birmingham LEA’s GCSE (School Leaving Certificate at 16, see Anwar, 1996) results show that girls outperform boys in all ethnic groups, save Bangladeshi, - Indian and white girls scoring five per cent higher than boys. However, Gipps and Gillborn (1998) undertook a comprehensive review of scholastic achievement of ethnic minority pupils in British schools. They conclude that girls’ performance is not significantly different from that of boys at the GCSE level. Indian girls, however, perform significantly better than Pakistani and Bangladeshi girls and are on a par with white girls.

According to the latest nation-wide survey (Modood et al., 1997), the participation rate of Asian young people (aged 16-19) in higher education tells an interesting story. The overall participation rate for females is lower than for males but there are within-group differences. Eighty-one per cent of the Indian men and 66 per cent of women are in full-time education compared with 71 and 54 per cent of Pakistani and Bangladeshis men and women respectively. An important point to note, however, is that although the proportional rate of Pakistani and Bangladeshi women is lower than that of Indians, it is quite close to that of whites, which is 56 and 43 per cent respectively for females and males. As regards the qualifications gained by the 16-24-year-old men and women, the report concludes: ‘Bangladeshi and Pakistani young women, especially the latter, were considerably less qualified than average, and four out of ten Pakistani and half of Bangladeshis had no qualifications’ (p. 75). Anwar (1996) advocates that the first-generation Pakistani women, who are mainly from rural backgrounds, need special attention in that some opportunities should be provided for them in adult education. In sum, it may be inferred that the present younger generation of females is catching up with their white counterparts in ‘staying-on’ for further education.

Concluding Remarks

Asian girls, especially of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origins, are likely to face many more difficulties at school because of the differing gender expectations between the home and those of the school and wider British society. There is some evidence in the literature - not conclusive by any means - to suggest that the ‘chasm between home and school’ may cause psychological tension and anxiety which in turn can lead to serious illnesses, e.g. bulimia, anorexia and self-poisoning. Although the Asian girls deploy a variety of psychological mechanisms to cope with their anxieties and tensions, it is suggested that they might need extra help and support form their teachers and other caring professionals to deal with the personal problems arising out of their situation of conflict.

Asian girls are sometimes restricted in their choice of subjects and broader vocational and professional aspirations. Furthermore, some of them may be frustrated because of the restrictions placed by parents on their progress to further and higher education, especially away from home. Some teachers hold negative stereotypes of Asian girls, which can lead to lower expectations (Gillborn, 1990). Therefore, it is suggested that all trainee teachers need to be aware of, and understand the salient issues in the teaching of ethnic minority children and young people. Some fifteen years ago the Swann Report (DES, 1985) made very pertinent recommendations in this area for the training of teachers and for the provision of in-service courses for experienced teachers.

Smith and Tomlinson (1989, p. 304) summarise the findings of their research on attainment: ‘With the exception of some specific groups, Asians are now obtaining grades similar to whites.’ The pattern of scholastic achievement is rather complex: Indian girls are achieving above the national norms whereas Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are below the norms. Overall, girls’ rate of staying on for further and higher education is higher than that of their white counterparts. However, the differences within groups are similar to the pattern of scholastic achievement in that Indian-origins girls are far more successful than their Pakistani and Bangladeshi counterparts.